Sea Otter: Old School and Retro Bikes at the Otter

April 29, 2015
13 Comments

The yearly Sea Otter is where the cycling world unveils the new and the nearly-new (and the not-quite-yet too) but there were several exhibits that were, or recalled, the past of our sport. And it’s not just bikes – there were some of the original characters of the sport, from the ever-present characters of Gary Fisher, Tom Ritchey, Joe Murray, Scot Nicol and Joe Breeze walking the paddock, to the re-emergence of Chris Chance, there were plenty of chances to see some legends.

So, join us as we take in some of the sights…

 

Like, totally crucial, dude! This fella was jiving on the Fox Racing Shox booth, giving out love and high-fives.
The original fat bike

Even the most retro of us, couldn’t remember this one

 

No laughing, junior, this was state of the art! Look at those Mag 21s! And the bar ends.

 

Another idea that seemed to make amazing sense at the time. The Marin Ti FRS

 

We can still spot a Ground Control tyre at 30 paces

 

Gary Fisher was looking dapper as ever, while recording for the Spokesmen podcast with Chipps.

 

Chris Chance has been away for a decade, but he’s decidedly back.

 

Sid to Sid. Even when inflated, the ’98 SID only had 63mm travel, half of the modern one.

 

Likewise the original RS-1. 52mm compared to 100mm of the modern upsidedown RS-1.

 

Keith Bontrager developed the original crown for Paul Turner’s fork. Love those decals!

 

Some folks here will be drooling at this immaculate Yeti Ultimate. Ooh, those stays. Nurse!

 

And a carbon Trimble from 1993. Just wow!

 

Magura cycling is 40 years old, so it bought a ’75 Cadillac with original interior.
Cyclocross isn’t all carbon frames and Di2 you know. This was being ridden around.

 

Aero stormtooper look from this bang up to date Kask helmet. For what, we don’t know.
Half BMX, half riot Police…

 

Mr. Chipps Chippendale

Singletrackworld's ex-Editor At Large

With 25 years as Editor of Singletrack World Magazine, Chipps holds the record for the longest-running mountain bike magazine editor in the world. He started in the bike trade in 1990 and became a full time mountain bike journalist at the start of 1994. Chipps stepped down as Editor in April 2026 after 25 years at the helm. He's now wondering what to do next, while riding his bike in the French Pyrenees, where he also runs some gites.

More posts from Mr. Chipps

13 thoughts on “Sea Otter: Old School and Retro Bikes at the Otter”

  2. The diameter of handlebar ends hasn’t changed, you can still rock them if you want. No one’s stopping you. 🙂

  10. “Fake spoke covers, tthew?”
    I can see a gap between the disk and the rim, and what look like metal spokes. If I’m wrong, what I meant to say was,
    Liking the Tioga Disk Drive wheel on the Trimble! 🙂

  13. “I can see a gap between the disk and the rim, and what look like metal spokes.” The Kevlar elements all attached to metal circles with stub spokes sticking out of them, that was how they were attached to the rim, tensioned and trued.

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